Alone in the Dark Reboot from THQ Nordic and the writer of SOMA

[Darth Roxor]

i bet you haven't played dreams in the witch house, o grand consoomer

 

[Infinitron]

https://www.thqnordic.com/article/descend-madness-new-trailer-alone-dark

Skövde, Sweden / Vienna, Austria - February 28, 2024: Descend into the madness of Alone in the Dark as you meet the residents of Derceto Manor in this brand-new trailer! Watch the new trailer here: https://youtu.be/KVYY34GT3ac

Get a glimpse of Emily and Edward's descent into madness: "One of the most important parts of the game is the place. It's at its very core a haunted mansion story. That's why we needed to make sure we recreate Derceto again!", says Creative Director Mikael Hedberg.

Jodie Comer and David Harbour talk about different story endings and the colorful, vibrant characters you will encounter. Depending on who you choose to play as, Emily or Edward, people will react differently, and you will experience different scenes - definitely worth it to play as both!

Check out the new trailer: https://youtu.be/KVYY34GT3ac

Alone in the Dark is developed by Pieces Interactive in Sweden and published by THQ Nordic and will be coming to PC, Xbox Series S/X, and PlayStation®5 on March 20, 2024. Alone in the Dark and the Alone in the Dark's Digital Deluxe Edition are available for pre-order now. The Digital Deluxe Edition includes the base game, Derceto 1992 Costume Pack, Vintage Horror Filter Pack, and the Director's Commentary Mode.

 

[Infinitron]

Derceto is inevitable for those that dig up the past.

Embark on a harrowing journey through Alone in the Dark, where Jodie Comer and David Harbour's haunting performances infuse the upcoming horror game with gripping emotion.

Experience this new nightmare from either Emily Hartwood’s or Edward Carnby’s perspective, played by Jodie Comer (Killing Eve, Free Guy) and David Harbour (Stranger Things, Hellboy) respectively.

 

[Freedos]

Lots of trailers, so little actual gameplay showing. And the mansion, I want to see more of the actual mansion, it's not an excuse being a 'reimagining'.

We'll more when it's released of course. But for now...the first chapter of Song of Horror (hell, even Song of Horror in general) was more Alone in the Dark remake than this. And it's funny because an Alone in the Dark remake has more potential than other modern remakes around. In theory.

 

[Infinitron]

On a dark night in London, a mysterious force drew dozens of the world's top content creators to an island on the River Thames. Disguised as urban explorers, they ventured into the eerie depths, capturing their encounters with eldritch forces on bodycams. Explore the recovered footage to uncover the fate of PewDiePie, El Rubius, Daz Games, MissMikkaa, Gnu, AngryJoe, and others as they faced the unknown... Alone in the Dark.

Continue down the rabbit hole and watch the individual runs here: https://hauntedhouse.aloneinthedark.com/

 

[Morgoth]

7/10

Good exploration and narrative, bad combat.

 

[Barbarian]

7/10

Good exploration and narrative, bad combat.

That is what I am expecting really. It is not like the original had "fun combat". It is not Resident Evil had it either. Oldschool survival horror is supposed to be about exploration and narrative, maybe resource management(ammo and weapons). Sinking City had terrible combat but it would have been fine if it had good writing and exploring the city was worthwile(it was not the case on both counts).

If the plot is a nice locraftian romp this will be worth a playthrough already. Bonus if actually rummaging through every corner of the mansion and reading every document actually yields entertainment and rewards.

Yes I have become undemanding as of late.

 

[Alienman]

Very much in the mood for a game like this. Combat didn't look too bad. The guy seems to have trouble aiming with a gamepad. Probably a lot easier with the mouse.

 

[Nifft Batuff]

Only grampas still know what a survival horror is. The last bunch of these games was from more than 20 years ago.

 

[Barbarian]

I really miss the Silent Hill games. I even liked the western developed ones that were blasted by critics - yes I liked Downpour.

Kind of sad that it is a dying genre and the Resident Evil games have basically become shooting games with anime aesthetics.

I would hope this does well and revives this particular franchise, but maybe I shouldn't place my hopes so high.

 

[mord]

Nothing like a metacritic score with average in the 60s with reviews ranging from 20 to 90 score. Utterly useless.

 

[Barbarian]

I don't even know what to make of game reviews anymore.

IGN's review for instance complained about simplistic combat with lack of weapon variety and customization, comparing this to recent Resident Evil games. They also complain about the emphasis on puzzles and exploration.

Despite being called the progenitor of "survival horror" the original games are basically adventure games and this is seemingly a return to roots. I have no idea who gets into this expecting Resident Evil 4 combat mechanics and emphasis on action. Some of these bad reviews actually make me want to play it.

 

[Lemming42]

I don't really get this. An over-the-shoulder action game is not the logical way to remake AitD, and has clearly been chosen to try and copy the succcess of the later Resident Evil games.

The art direction is very dull, none of the original game's bright colours and psychedelic visuals. Obviously can't say much about the story just from these previews, but I hope they don't make Carnby and Emily into generic horror protagonists. Both of them should be comically unfazed by shit. Remember that in the original, Emily traps herself in the mansion deliberately because she's convinced there's a supernatural evil in there and wants to investigate - she's tough as shit and ready for anything. The original game already conveyed an amusing sense of total unflappability in her without her ever even speaking beyond the intro, you could get a lot of laughs out of an upper-class Southern lady walking around a mansion and just sort of rolling her eyes at all the demons and jumpscares.

A lot of the original game was clearly meant to be funny too - you get into a swordfight with a zombie pirate, you fall through the floor and get instakilled if you try to take the first corridor after the attic, you have to use an old bow to kill the spirt of an angry Native American guy trapped in a painting who keeps throwing tomahawks at you, you get chased around the library by a giant blob monster, and of course you get chased by a fucking Dune worm near the end. The whole thing should feel like an acid trip where each new room holds some kind of insane shit. It doesn't look like they've really gone for that vibe.

It's a very hard game to remake, admittedly, which is perhaps an argument for not remaking it.

 

[Cross]

Despite being called the progenitor of "survival horror" the original games are basically adventure games and this is seemingly a return to roots.

The original Alone in the Dark had hand-to-hand combat and platforming sections where, if you fell into water, your shotgun shells would be ruined and unusable. It was an experimental game that did lots of different things.

I don't see how this is a return to roots though. The puzzles are your typical light action-adventure fare, unlike the adventure game style puzzles of the original. In the original, if you found a book, you read it for clues and then you dropped it, because it took up weight in your inventory. Here, judging from the gameplay videos, you just hover up hundreds of books, notes and other collectibles like any generic triple-A game.

They couldn't even get the being alone in the dark part right, as you're bombarded with cutscenes and NPCs. The original is a very atmospheric game, in large part because you're actually alone and have to piece together the story by yourself.

 

[Barbarian]

Admittedly that would not work.

I also think the colors and psychedelic visuals had more to do with tecnological limitations than actual design. Box art and some of the games pixelated 2d hand drawings were pretty usual pulpy horror art.

None of these would feel out of place being the cover from some 70s or 80s horror yarn collections.

 

[Lemming42]

I also think the colors and psychedelic visuals had more to do with tecnological limitations than actual design. Box art and some of the games pixelated 2d hand drawings were pretty usual pulpy horror art.

The game over screen in AitD1 there looks very psychedelic to me. You're right about the pulp influences, but pulp genre fiction novels were often very strange and fantastical.

I don't think it's just down to the technological limitations of the day, a lot of the demon models are very stylised - just look at the zombie chicken with its oversized mouth and huge eyes:

Even accounting for the game being from the earliest days of 3D poly models, this is still a cartoony design (and the entire concept of the player being beset by oversized zombie chickens with razor-sharp teeth who leap through upper-floor windows is more amusing than scary).

The existence of things like the giant worm, the zombie pirate, the bright purple bathtub monster, the animated suit of armour (surely invoked as a deliberate cliche), and the huge neon green mouth that prevents you from leaving the mansion seem to suggest a deliberate focus on cartoony surrealism rather than gritty realism. Most of the concepts in the game are pretty funny even if you were to replace the visuals with entirely realistic ones - there's no way to make a haunted painting of a Native American which throws magic homing tomahawks at the player anything other than funny (especially as it can be vanquished by placing a rug over it). Then obviously the undead pirate ship in AitD2 and the ghostly western town in AitD3 take the weirdness even further.

Either way, the new game doesn't seem to be trying to replicate any of the original game's sense of unusualness and weirdness, which is a shame. I might be missing something but so far I've only seen the player shooting fairly generic looking zombie-type creatures. No giant zombie chickens or animated suits of armour!

 

[Fedora Master]

It's a recognized name and that's why they're desecrating its corpse. That's it. That's the only reason this is called Alone in the Dark. Same as all the other modern games in the series.

 

[Hell Swarm]

Kind of sad that it is a dying genre and the Resident Evil games have basically become shooting games with anime aesthetics.

You're in luck friend! PS1 style survival horror is the new hot indie genre. You can find loads of PS1-Dreamcast style tank control survival horrors coming out soon or already released. Do some digging man, the genres growing.

I don't really get this. An over-the-shoulder action game is not the logical way to remake AitD, and has clearly been chosen to try and copy the succcess of the later Resident Evil games.

That's the defacto game genre now. Same way platformers used to be. Now everything uses this camera as it's easy for casuals to control.

 

[Baron Dupek]

Philomena Cunk

"The title says Alone in the Dark but oddly there are two of us in here. Not so alone isn't it?"

26:45 they took bullsquids from HL?

 

[Morgoth]

Hm, maybe worth during a deep sale, after all. Shouldn't be taking too long.

 

[Barbarian]

Hm, maybe worth during a deep sale, after all. Shouldn't be taking too long.

They finally release a decent Alone in the Dark and you want to buy during a sale? You degenerate.

Philomena Cunk

"The title says Alone in the Dark but oddly there are two of us in here. Not so alone isn't it?"

26:45 they took bullsquids from HL?

So it is good? If you are not some retarded IGN reviewer I mean.

 

[Infinitron]

https://af.gog.com/game/alone_in_the_dark?as=1649904300

 

[Morgoth]

Hm, maybe worth during a deep sale, after all. Shouldn't be taking too long.

They finally release a decent Alone in the Dark and you want to buy during a sale? You degenerate.

More like a decent RE Remake clone.

 

[Hell Swarm]

https://af.gog.com/game/alone_in_the_dark?as=1649904300

It's already on key shops for £15 less if you want to use the grey market.

 

[Barbarian]

I don't really get this. An over-the-shoulder action game is not the logical way to remake AitD, and has clearly been chosen to try and copy the succcess of the later Resident Evil games.

The better reviews mention that combat is sparse(and that it does get repetitive on second playthrough).

I do admit that if they wanted to avoid RE comparisons they should not have... picked the exact over the shoulder camera combat as recent RE games. Also monsters are swamp/fungus creatures that are reminiscent of RE 7.

Anyway I will finish the game this weekend and leave my impressions here. By all accounts it is quite short(8-10 hous for each playthrough).